As Election Day draws nearer, Microsoft is getting into the polling business by turning its millions of Xbox Live subscribers into potentially the nation’s largest focus group.

Gore Vidal, who passed away yesterday at the age of 86, was nothing if not a man of words. Beyond his prolific writings, he was also an active debater and interviewee.

One councilmember tore up the bill. Another called the whole idea a “vendetta.” A third compared the debate to Alice in Wonderland. Tempers flared. Parliamentary procedure seemed non-existent at times. The term “class warfare” was bandied about. And Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) somehow ended up on the same side of a tax debate as his colleague from Ward 2, Jack Evans.

Here’s his statement (via): “This is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsible for dealing with this mess,” Obama told reporters in Clearwater, Fla. … “In my mind, it’s more important than ever that we present ourselves to the American people and describe where we want to take the country and where we want to take the economy,” he said. ……

Should Obama Agree to Delay Friday’s Debate? ( surveys) The latest is that Obama aides say their candidate is not inclined to to delay the debate, but Obama hasn’t come out to say anything definitely yet. What do you think he should do?…

Republican presidential candidate John McCain is asking the Obama campaign and the debate commission to delay Friday night’s first presidential debate, reports the AP. He has announced he is suspending his campaign to focus on the economic bailout package currently before Congress. To quote Matthew Yglesias: WTF? You can’t just stop the presidential campaign — what does that even mean?We’re guessing it means McCain is getting hammered in recent polls on whether voters think he…